Latest news with #GlobalFashionSummit:CopenhagenEdition2025
Fashion United
06-06-2025
- Business
- Fashion United
Refiberd Announced as Winner of Trailblazer Programme 2025 at Global Fashion Summit
Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) and PDS Ventures have revealed Refiberd as the winner of the Trailblazer Programme 2025. The announcement was made last night at the official Celebration Dinner of Global Fashion Summit: Copenhagen Edition 2025, the leading international forum for sustainability in fashion, presented by GFA. Refiberd, shortlisted under the 'Closed Loop Pathways' category, was selected by a panel of industry experts based on the potential for systemic impact demonstrated in their comprehensive application and live pitching. The company's pioneering technology uses hyperspectral imaging and AI to accurately identify the material composition of textiles, unlocking critical advancements in textile recycling, resale authentication, and traceability. As the Trailblazer winner, Refiberd will receive an investment of up to USD 200,000 from PDS Ventures, pending successful completion of financial and legal due diligence and final Investment Committee approval. The award also includes strategic commercial and operational support from PDS Group, including development and commercialisation assistance from its innovation-focused subsidiary, Positive Materials. Federica Marchionni, CEO, Global Fashion Agenda, said: 'At this year's Summit, we are challenging the industry to address its greatest obstacles and implement proven catalysts for change. Refiberd exemplifies how technological innovation can help bridge longstanding structural gaps in the fashion system. Their solution reflects the spirit of the Trailblazer Programme and the theme of 'Barriers and Bridges' by turning challenge into opportunity. We are proud to support their journey and continue fostering a space where collaboration across sectors enables transformation at scale.' Pallak Seth, Executive Vice Chairman, PDS, commented on the award win: 'We are thrilled to name Refiberd as the winner of the Trailblazer Programme 2025. Refiberd embodies the spirit of visionary entrepreneurship—developing breakthrough technology with the potential to transform the fashion industry. The funding support provided through this award will be instrumental in scaling its innovations and driving forward circular textile recycling across the supply chain. Now in its second year, the Trailblazer Programme has seen incredible momentum, attracting applicants from six continents and showcasing a diverse mix of pioneering solutions. This growing global response reflects the commitment of PDS Ventures, in collaboration with Global Fashion Agenda, to empower founders who are reimagining fashion for a more sustainable future. The 2025 edition sets a new benchmark for excellence, demonstrating the calibre of talent shaping the next era of fashion—one that is more circular, equitable, and climate-conscious.' Credits: Global Fashion Agenda Sarika Bajaj, Co-Founder & CEO, Refiberd said: 'The Refiberd team is thrilled to have been selected as the winner for the 2025 Trailblazer Programme! Having our technology be recognised by so many influential members of the fashion and textile industry is incredible validation for our team, and we are so grateful that the judges recognised the need for more accurate material data across the supply chain. This opportunity comes at a critical growth point for Refiberd, and we are thrilled to work towards scaling our technology with the support of the Trailblazer Programme, PDS Ventures, and Global Fashion Agenda.' Now in its second year, the Trailblazer Programme 2025 received over 200 applications from 44 countries across six continents - nearly double last year's total. Nine outstanding innovators were selected following a rigorous review by a cross-sector jury including representatives from Ralph Lauren, Fashion for Good, Zalando, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, GFA, and PDS Ventures. This year's programme was structured around three key innovation pillars that address critical priorities for a more sustainable fashion industry: Working With Nature, Closed Loop Pathways, and Tech Powered Transformation. The overall runners-up were Manny AI, recognised under the Tech Powered Transformation pillar for its AI platform enabling responsive, demand-driven supply chains, and Matereal, highlighted under Working With Nature for its chemical and AI-powered platform that creates less toxic, decarbonised polymers for textiles to fit supply chain needs. The nine shortlisted Trailblazers were featured within the Innovation Forum at Global Fashion Summit, gaining direct exposure to industry stakeholders, brands, manufacturers, and investors. The physical Trailblazer Award was designed and produced by Yellow Octopus Circular Solutions, created from a minimum of 60% recycled textile waste sourced directly from the fashion industry. More than just a symbol, the award contains approximately a box full of textiles. Visit to learn more about the Trailblazer Programme and explore the featured innovators.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges: Global Fashion Leaders Descend on Copenhagen to Unveil New Sustainability Insights and Initiatives
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- From 3-5 June, Global Fashion Summit: Copenhagen Edition 2025 convened over 1000 influential leaders from brands, retailers, NGOs, policymakers, manufacturers, innovators, and adjacent industries to advance collective action on fashion's sustainability challenges and opportunities. Presented by Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), the non-profit accelerating the transition to a net positive fashion industry, the forum was held at the iconic Copenhagen Concert Hall, with side events hosted at prestigious cultural venues around the city. Building on 16 years of industry leadership, this year's Summit explored the theme 'Barriers and Bridges', shining a spotlight on the current obstacles holding the industry back and the collaborative solutions to mobilise action. The content addressed five key forces shaping fashion's future: Innovation, Capital, Courage, Incentives and Regulation. View the full programme here. Her Majesty The Queen of Denmark, a long-standing patron of GFA, attended the opening sessions and visited the Innovation Forum. Attendees were inspired by over 100 speakers, including representatives from Kering, RE&UP, eBay, VEJA, the European Commission, GANNI, The Lycra Company, Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity, H&M Group, ExpectAI, Visa Europe, UN Environment Programme, Zalando, United Repair Centre, Target, and Artistic Milliners. See the full speaker list here. Prominent brands and organisations unveiled new insights and initiatives at the event. Highlights include: Global Fashion Agenda, in collaboration with PDS Ventures, revealed the winner of the 2025 Trailblazer Programme, spotlighting an early-stage innovation with the potential to transform the fashion and textile industry. The winning company, Refiberd, will receive significant equity investment along with commercial and operational support to scale its solution. Read more. RE&UP revealed that it has become the first fibre producer globally to earn Cradle to Cradle Certified® for Product Circularity, validating its recycled cotton and polyester as fully circular. This industry-first milestone affirms RE&UP's leadership in scalable, credible fibre-to-fibre recycling, setting a new benchmark for circularity in fashion at industrial scale. Read more. The LYCRA Company in collaboration with Qore® will soon bring to market the world's first large-scale commercial production of bio-derived LYCRA® fibre made with QIRA®. By using dent corn as the feedstock, The LYCRA Company will replace a finite resource traditionally used to make LYCRA® fibre. Read more. Launched on 3 June, 'It takes many' is Zalando's second consumer sustainability behaviour report, exploring the persistent gap between consumer intentions and actions in fashion. Based on surveys and expert interviews, the report highlights key barriers and calls for collective, system-wide action from brands, policymakers, platforms, and consumers to enable more sustainable choices. Read more. Bio-design company Modern Meadow revealed INNOVERA™, a high-performance, animal-free material made from plant proteins, biopolymers and recycled rubber. With more than 80% renewable carbon content, it mimics leather's look and feel while reducing environmental impact. Ideal for fashion, automotive and more, INNOVERA™ is scalable and adaptable, blending innovation with tradition. Read more. With almost three decades of experience championing recommerce and the circular economy, eBay has built a suite of solutions to enable fashion brands to drive resale – from its brand outlet for excess inventory, to Imperfects for items that are slightly damaged but never-worn, to pre-loved take back solutions for brands, including its new partnership with Nobody's Child. WBCSD launched the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) Sector Guidance for Fashion and Textile v2.0 to empower textile and fashion value-chain actors to unlock business value by embedding circular performance measurement into decision-making. It helps companies translate ambition into action, prepare for regulatory compliance and demonstrate tangible progress to investors and stakeholders. Read more. Fashion for Good and Arvind Limited announced the launch of Future Forward Factories, an ambitious initiative with two interconnected components: developing a comprehensive open-source blueprint for sustainable textile manufacturing and constructing a groundbreaking physical facility in Gujarat, India that proves these innovations work at commercial scale. Read more. One year on from the launch of The Fashion ReModel at Global Fashion Summit, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation released 'Scaling circular business models: a guide for fashion leaders', which equips fashion leaders with the insights and tools to embed circular business models into core strategy, make a compelling business case, and unlock financial and climate benefits. Read more. With even more focus on innovation this year, the Innovation Forum returned with a dynamic showcase of 30 solution providers spanning the value chain, from next-generation materials to cutting-edge end-of-use technologies. Through guided tours and a tailored Matchmaking programme, more than 400 introductions were facilitated between relevant stakeholders and innovators. The Summit also hosted 18 exclusive Leadership Roundtables, fostering frank, solution-focused dialogue among top decision-makers across public and private sectors. Highlights included 'Driving Decarbonisation: Corporate Financial Engagement', 'A People-Centric Transition', 'Climate Adaptation in Luxury Value Chains' and 'Local Solutions to a Global Problem', generating actionable insights and new collaborative pathways. During the opening of the Summit, Federica Marchionni, CEO, Global Fashion Agenda, urged: "The only certainty in this uncertain world is climate change. Leadership is needed most in times of adversity. Now is the time for leadership to step up, assert your vision and courageously drive action on sustainability. Now is the moment to support tenacious leadership that breaks barriers and shows what's possible - remembering that true transformation comes from collaboration and collective courage." For more information about the Summit visit Learn more about Global Fashion Agenda at CONTACT: For more information contact press@ This information was brought to you by Cision The following files are available for download: The-Concert-Hall Day-1 Welcome-to-Global-Fashion-Summit GFS-CPH-2025 004 O8A9889-scaled View original content: SOURCE Global Fashion Agenda Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fibre2Fashion
03-06-2025
- Business
- Fibre2Fashion
CEOs of The LYCRA Company & Qore join Global Fashion Summit lineup
The LYCRA Company, a global leader in developing sustainable fibers and solutions for the apparel industry, announced that its CEO, Gary Smith, is a speaker at the Global Fashion Summit: Copenhagen Edition 2025. He will be joined on stage by Jon Veldhouse, CEO of Qore, the maker of QIRA, a next-generation BDO and a key ingredient in bio-derived LYCRA fiber, which is launching later this year. The LYCRA Company and Qore will debut at the Global Fashion Summit 2025 in Copenhagen, with CEOs Gary Smith and Jon Veldhouse discussing their new bio-derived LYCRA fibre made with QIRA. Launching later this year, the fibre uses corn-based BDO, offers 70 per cent renewable content, and can cut LYCRA's carbon footprint by up to 44 per cent, requiring no fabric or process changes. Smith and Veldhouse will discuss the development of this sustainable fiber made from annually renewable field corn during their Fireside Chat: From Farm to Fashion. Their session takes place on Wednesday, June 4, at 3:35 CEST in the DR Concert Hall. The discussion will be moderated by Amy Nguyen, a researcher, writer, and founder of Sustainable & Social. This is the first time both companies are participating in the Global Fashion Summit, a premier platform focused on sustainability in the fashion industry. The companies have a prominent exhibit space for attendees to learn more about bio-derived LYCRA fiber made with QIRA. Here, visitors can be transported to the Qore site and cornfields in Iowa through a virtual reality experience. Bio-derived LYCRA EcoMade fiber will be the world's first large-scale, commercially available renewable elastane. It delivers equivalent performance to the original LYCRA fiber and serves as a one-to-one replacement with no re-engineering of fabrics, processes, or garment patterns required. The product contains 70 percent renewable content and can potentially reduce the carbon footprint of LYCRA fiber by up to 44 percent. The LYCRA Company holds patents related to this renewable fiber in several regions including Europe. 'We're proud to join the Global Fashion Summit for the first time and showcase how collaboration can accelerate a more sustainable future for fashion,' said Gary Smith, CEO of The LYCRA Company. 'Partnering with Qore has enabled us to scale innovation that is renewable and ready to meet the demands of global fashion brands striving to meet their sustainability goals.' The newly constructed Qore site in Eddyville, Iowa, began operating last month and has started producing QIRA. The company will host a grand opening celebration in July. 'Starting production at our new state-of-the-art facility marks a major step forward—not just for Qore, but for the entire industry,' said Jon Veldhouse, CEO of Qore. 'With QIRA now being made in Iowa from annually renewable field corn, we're turning sustainable innovation into reality and helping our partners bring next-generation materials to market.' Note: The headline, insights, and image of this press release may have been refined by the Fibre2Fashion staff; the rest of the content remains unchanged. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (HU)
Business Upturn
02-06-2025
- Business
- Business Upturn
CEOs of The LYCRA Company and Qore® Join Global Fashion Summit Lineup
Wilmington, Del., United States: The LYCRA Company, a global leader in developing sustainable fibers and solutions for the apparel industry, announced today that its CEO, Gary Smith, is a speaker at the Global Fashion Summit: Copenhagen Edition 2025. He will be joined on stage by Jon Veldhouse, CEO of Qore®, the maker of QIRA®, a next-generation BDO and a key ingredient in bio-derived LYCRA® fiber, which is launching later this year. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: LYCRA® brand and QIRA® are principal sponsors of the Global Fashion Summit: Copenhagen Edition 2025. The brands are exhibiting at the event, where they will promote bio-derived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA®, derived from field corn, to help make fashion more sustainable. Smith and Veldhouse will discuss the development of this sustainable fiber made from annually renewable field corn during their Fireside Chat: From Farm to Fashion. Their session takes place on Wednesday, June 4, at 3:35 CEST in the DR Concert Hall. The discussion will be moderated by Amy Nguyen, a researcher, writer, and founder of Sustainable & Social. This is the first time both companies are participating in the Global Fashion Summit, a premier platform focused on sustainability in the fashion industry. The companies have a prominent exhibit space for attendees to learn more about bio-derived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA®. Here, visitors can be transported to the Qore® site and cornfields in Iowa through a virtual reality experience. Bio-derived LYCRA® EcoMade fiber will be the world's first large-scale, commercially available renewable elastane. It delivers equivalent performance to the original LYCRA® fiber and serves as a one-to-one replacement with no re-engineering of fabrics, processes, or garment patterns required. The product contains 70 percent renewable content and can potentially reduce the carbon footprint of LYCRA® fiber by up to 44 percent*. The LYCRA Company holds patents related to this renewable fiber in several regions including Europe. 'We're proud to join the Global Fashion Summit for the first time and showcase how collaboration can accelerate a more sustainable future for fashion,' said Gary Smith, CEO of The LYCRA Company. 'Partnering with Qore® has enabled us to scale innovation that is renewable and ready to meet the demands of global fashion brands striving to meet their sustainability goals.' The newly constructed Qore® site in Eddyville, Iowa, began operating last month and has started producing QIRA®. The company will host a grand opening celebration in July. 'Starting production at our new state-of-the-art facility marks a major step forward—not just for Qore®, but for the entire industry,' said Jon Veldhouse, CEO of Qore®. 'With QIRA® now being made in Iowa from annually renewable field corn, we're turning sustainable innovation into reality and helping our partners bring next-generation materials to market.' Learn more about this renewable offering by visiting *Estimate from Cradle-to-Gate Screening LCA for a representative LYCRA® fiber manufacturing facility, June 2022, prepared by Ramboll Americas Engineering Solutions, Inc. About The LYCRA Company The LYCRA Company is a leading global fiber and technology solutions provider to the apparel and personal care industries committed to offering sustainable products using renewable, pre-, and post-consumer recycled ingredients that reduce waste and help set the stage for circularity. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, United States, it owns the LYCRA®, LYCRA HyFit®, LYCRA® T400®, COOLMAX®, THERMOLITE®, ELASPAN®, SUPPLEX® and TACTEL® brands. The LYCRA Company adds value to its customers' products by offering unique innovations that meet the consumer's need for comfort and lasting performance. Learn more at About Qore® LLC Formed through a joint venture by Cargill and HELM AG, Qore® helps leading brands replace fossil-based chemistries with bio-derived intermediates. At the heart of the joint venture is the production of QIRA®, the next-generation bio-derived 1,4-butanediol (BDO). Made biologically through the fermentation of plant-based sugars, QIRA® can save up to 86% of greenhouse gas emissions when replacing today's widely used chemical intermediates made from traditional fossil sources. Bio-derived QIRA® can be used the same way as its fossil counterpart but with significantly better environmental performance. For more information and inquiries, visit About The Global Fashion Summit Global Fashion Summit is a leading international forum for sustainability in fashion, presented by Global Fashion Agenda (GFA). Convening major decision makers from across the world, the forum was first launched in 2009 and has become a nexus for agenda-setting discussions and presentations on the most critical environmental, social and ethical issues facing our industry and planet, all intended to spark urgent action and accelerate impact in the industry. Learn more at LYCRA® is a trademark of The LYCRA Company. QIRA® is a trademark of Qore®. View source version on Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with Business Wire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same.
